


10-12 (Stand-by)

by hfleury



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - EMT/EMS, Alternate Universe - Firefighters, Alternate Universe - Not Hockey Player(s), Car Accidents, Carolina Hurricanes, Fade to Black, Idiots in Love, M/M, National Hockey League, POV Third Person, POV switch, Rare Pairings, Sharing a Bed, description of sex without going into detail
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-24
Updated: 2018-02-24
Packaged: 2019-03-23 10:55:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13786023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hfleury/pseuds/hfleury
Summary: It's hard to work in a fire station, it's harder to fall in love in a fire station (Firefighter/EMS AU)-----Haydn had been in Noah's head since he came to the station. He didn’t know what it was about him, maybe his perfect face, or his perfect body, or maybe his perfect voice, that made Noah lose his composure every time he got near him. Now there they were: eating together, sitting across from each other, talking like nothing happened.Because nothing did happen. The beach wasn’t real and neither was the kiss or the sex that came with it. It was all a dream.Teasing Haydn was the only way Noah could justify offering to share a bed with him, and god did he want to share a bed with him.*UPDATE: I've heavily edited this fic! I've also reformatted it, so hopefully it's a bit easier to read!*





	10-12 (Stand-by)

**Author's Note:**

> Update: I've edited this fic, not only in the formatting, but the grammer and some of the dialouge. I really suggest giving it another read!  
> \-----  
> Thank you to @sidsknees (on tumblr) for being my beta and @teuvoslindholm (on tumblr) for screaming about naydn with me:)
> 
> To make the fic go a little smoother, here are some of the common codes that I used and what they mean!  
> 11-80: Accident - Major injuries  
> 11-81: Accident - Minor injuries  
> 10-53: Man down  
> Code 1: Urgent job  
> Code 2: Non urgent job  
> R47: ambulance officer in trouble - police required

It was too hot. Even from as far back as he was, Haydn could feel the heat from the fire; it seeped through his clothes and made its way up and down his spine. The hair on his arms was sticking straight up.

He checked his watch for what seemed like the hundredth time.

_Come on Noah, get out of there._

Exactly twenty-five minutes before, he had watched the love of his life run into a burning building to save the life of another. He’d watched him leave hundreds of times before, but he had never been in for this long. Haydn’s heart was racing, he knew that Noah had thirty minutes worth of compressed air, and the time was quickly fading.

_He’ll be fine. He’s always fine. You’re just freaking yourself out._

Four more excruciatingly long minutes passed. Noah was now the only person not accounted for. Sweat rolled down Haydn’s face as he watched the flames grow, he was too scared to look away. The building cracked as pieces of roofing began to fall to the ground. Still no sign of him. The roof was now starting to collapse under the destruction of the fire. Police officers were starting to push other firefighters and onlookers away.

 _One minute._  

Watching the front door of the building, Haydn saw him. Noah, assisting a child out of the building. The child ran into the crowd and embraced what Haydn assumed were their parents. His eyes connected with Noah’s. Even through the mask he could see his smirk. He felt hope. Noah was safe and everything was going to be fine. 

The last thing he saw was Noah’s eyes.

Another crack.

The building collapsed.

* * *

_Bweeeeeeeee_

 

Haydn opened his eyes. He’d had that dream every night since he got to the station. They had barely spoken when the dreams started, at the time all Haydn knew was that he was falling and falling _hard_.

“Are you fucking kidding me? It’s three in the morning,” Noah complained, rolling over so his arm was hanging off of the top bunk. Being bunkmates with him was torture. Besides the fact that he snored extremely loudly and was constantly dropping things on top of Haydn, being under the person that he wanted to be on top was torture.

“Noah, you can’t complain every time we get an early call,” A small voice said from across the room. He recognized it as Sebastian, who was usually much better than the others about waking up for early calls.

Even in the dark Haydn could tell that Noah was smirking. “Watch me.”

 

 _“Hazmat needed, 11-81, code two. EMT one. TSA to truck two.”_ The loudspeaker boomed.

 

A few groans rang out through the darkness. “Have fun,” Noah said, shifting again in his bed.

“Fuck off,” The voice of Jordan Staal said harshly as light poured in from the opening of the door.

Haydn quietly got out of his bed and grabbed the nearest shirt. There was no way he was going to be able to go back to sleep. He exited as quietly as he could, trying to let the least amount of light into the dark room as possible.

“Where the hell are you going?” Justin's gruff voice asked as soon as Haydn closed the door. “It said EMT _one_ , go back to sleep.”

“I know.” Haydn answered, watching Faulk put on his uniform and make his way to the garage. “I couldn’t sleep; figured I’d get up and do something,” he said with a shrug. Haydn knew that he was an awful liar, but Faulk seemed to buy it. He nodded as he got into the ambulance and put the key into the ignition.

“Pesce! Hurry up!” He yelled. As if on cue, Brett appeared from behind the vehicle.

“I’m already here, dumbass,” he snarked, getting into the passenger's seat. With a small nod to Haydn, Faulk drove the ambulance out of the station, flicking on the lights and alarm. Haydn let out a small sigh and stared into the darkness. Everyday was the same thing: go to sleep under Noah, dream about him dying tragically, wake up in fear, wander around the station until everyone else gets up, rinse and repeat.

“You waiting for something Fleury? I thought Faulker and Pesce were called.” Scott's voice made Haydn jump. He stepped out from beside a fire truck, adjusting his jacket. Truck two was his to drive, so it made sense that he was here.

“Nah, I just woke up early.” Haydn lied. It seemed much easier than ‘ _I just had one of my recurring nightmares about Noah, oh and by the way I’m pretty sure I love him’._ Just as Scott opened his mouth to respond Sebastian entered the garage along Teuvo and Jordan, all in full uniform.

“Ready to go, Darls?” Staal asked, crossing to the passengers side of the truck. With a nod and a quick _‘see you later’_ to Haydn, Scott turned on the truck and headed off into the morning with the other three men. Haydn was alone, or rather, the only one awake; he decided to reenter the station and clean up the common area. After ducking into the bunk-room and grabbing his phone and headphones he turned on some music and began cleaning. Living in a building with twenty four other men had its downsides, one of which being that it constantly looked like a hurricane hit. Haydn allowed himself to zone-out as he cleaned, letting his mind empty. By the time he finished making the room look presentable it was five-thirty.

Sebastian, Teuvo, Justin, and the rest of the guys had returned to the station around six. Jordan, Scott, and Brett clocked out and went home, while the other three decided to sit in the common room.

“So what was it?” Haydn asked Teuvo, interrupting the quiet conversation he was having with Sebastian.

“Alpha Phi house.” He sighed. “Again.” 

“How is it that they manage to catch something on fire every time they have a party?” Haydn asked with a small laugh. To his knowledge this was the seventh time in the past month that they had to respond to that particular fraternity house. 

“Not fire this time,” Sebastian said, rolling his eyes. “They _tried_ to set dry ice on fire. When that didn’t work they decided to have a snowball fight.”

Justin let out a monstrous snort. “It was fucking hilarious. You should have seen some of them, Dogwood. Almost everyone there had at least two second degrees.” 

“Idiots,” Sebastian and Teuvo said simultaneously. They exchanged a smile and both directed their attention to their phones. Haydn couldn’t help but smile too. They were always so in sync, knowing exactly with the other was thinking. Haydn wanted that with Noah. He wanted to be able to talk to him, or even be in the same room as him, without being a nervous wreck. He wanted to be able to confide in Noah, tell him anything and everything. But, more than anything, he wanted to be with him. Every hour of every day Haydn wanted to spend it with Noah. In a way, they already did. They were both always at the station, but they were hardly ever _together_. They didn’t spend all day talking. They didn’t tell each other goodnight or good morning the way Sebastian and Teuvo did. They didn’t like each other that way, let alone love each other.

“Breakfast?” Haydn asked in an attempt to kill the awkward silence that had arisen. 

“I’ll help,” Teuvo said, getting up from his spot on the couch. Sebastian looked at him questioningly but quickly shrugged and went back to his phone. They both made their way into the kitchen, Haydn grabbing a pan from the overhead cabinet and turning on the stove as Teuvo went to the refrigerator.

“Eggs?” Teuvo said, looking at the empty shelves. Per usual, there was almost nothing inside, so they would have to make do.

 After working in silence for a minute or two Teuvo leaned closer to Haydn. “What’s wrong?”

“What?” Haydn said almost too loudly. He had heard him perfectly, but the question had caught him off guard.

“What’s going on with you?” Teuvo said leaning against the counter, his back to the men in the common room. “You wake up every morning before anyone else and you’re always on edge. You’re hiding something.” 

 _How the fuck am I supposed to respond to that?_ Haydn panicked. He had no idea what to say, so he stayed quiet. His face must have relayed how uncomfortable he was, because Teuvo took a step back.

“You don’t have to tell me. I get it, it’s a personal question. Just know that there are people here to talk to if you want.” he grinned softly.

“Um, yeah. Thanks man.” Was all that Haydn was able to get out. _Does he know something? Do I really look like I’m always nervous. Fuck._ They spent the rest of their time in the kitchen in relative quiet, with the occasional “can you pass me the… yeah, thanks.” In the end they ended up with a pretty good looking meal, eggs and hash browns with an arrangement of beverages.

Shortly after they finished the alarm clock in the bunk-room went off. There was a long, loud groan that Haydn presumed came from Noah. He and Trevor came out of the room a few minutes after, yawning and rubbing their eyes. 

“Morning,” Trevor said, putting one of his hands up as a sort of wave. The others responded, most of them with food already in their mouths.

“Morning, Noah,” Haydn said, offering him a smile. Noah lazily turned towards him.

“Hey, Dogwood.” _God he looks good._ His hair was messily swept back out of the way of his face and he hadn’t bothered putting on a shirt. Haydn couldn’t help but stare at his body. He wasn’t a big guy by any means, but he was _muscular_. His abs were defined more than Haydn had expected and there was a perfect V leading into his sweatpants. After an awkwardly long pause Haydn snapped himself back to reality.

“Hungry?” He asked, motioning to the plate beside him.

“Starving.” Noah responded, grabbing it and taking a seat at the table. Haydn fixed himself a plate and cautiously sat down across from him. “So, you were up super early,” Noah said, shoving a heap of eggs into his mouth. “Whatcha’ up to? Secret girlfriend you had to meet?” He asked with a snort. 

“No, nothing like that,” Haydn said quickly. _If only he knew that I no interest in having a girlfriend._ “Just woke up and couldn’t go back to sleep.”

“You should have climbed up with me. We could have cuddled, dude."Noah said jokingly, hitting Haydn gently on the arm. "Ah well, there’s always next time,” 

_Promise?_

* * *

 Noah had just woken up from the best dream he had ever had. He had been on an empty beach wearing nothing but sunglasses laying with the love of his life, Haydn Fleury. Haydn’s gentle fingers traced patterns across Noah’s stomach as they sat there together. Just before he opened his eyes they had shared a kiss that melted Noah to his core; what ended as a kiss started as something much more, as it usually did in these dreams. The encounter seemed to go on forever. Haydn’s body pressing against his as they met each other in the sand. Noah could have lived in that moment, however fictional, for the rest of his life. The thought of Haydn’s lips against his, their hands running through each other’s hair, was enough to make Noah blush, so he did his best to push the thoughts to the back of his head. Haydn had been in his head since he came to the station. He didn’t know what it was about him, maybe his perfect face, or his perfect body, or maybe his perfect voice, that made Noah lose his composure every time he got near him. Now there they were: eating together, sitting across from each other, _talking like nothing happened_. Because nothing _did_ happen. The beach wasn’t real and neither was the kiss or the sex that came with it. Teasing Haydn was the only way Noah could justify offering to share a bed with him, and _god_ did he want to share a bed with him.

_I wish we were alone._

Only he didn’t. Noah knew that if they were alone he would never be able to express his feelings. He considered himself a confident person, but not when it came to this, not when it came to Haydn. Besides the fact that Haydn was definitely straight, he had no idea how he would even bring it up. _‘Nice day we’re having, do you want to be my boyfriend?’_ didn’t seem like a great option.

“Yeah, definitely.” Haydn answered with a smile. Noah forced a laugh. _If only he knew I wasn’t joking._

 

_Bweeeeeeeee_

 

The alarm went off before Noah could respond. It was probably for the best, because Noah had no idea what to say.

 

_“Small house fire, 11-82, code two. EMT three. HLS to truck one”_

 

Haydn and Noah both got up, their eyes met for a brief second, but neither spoke. “Let’s go Hanny!” Elias, who had just clocked in, shouted as he made his way to the garage. “Skinny’s already in the truck!” Noah looked back up to Haydn, but he had already left.

The drive to the job was quiet, Cam was driving with Jeff in the passenger’s seat doing paperwork. Noah was in the back with Lindy, who sat quietly, looking out of the window. What dispatch described as a ‘small house fire’ was really just a grill that someone put to much gas into. They quickly extinguished the flames, filled out the necessary paperwork, and headed back to the station, no EMT needed.

“That was quick,” Teuvo said as everyone filed back into the common room.

 “Just a grill,” Haydn said with a smile. “No one was hurt, barely any damage.” He seemed genuinely happy, he usually did when there was a successful job and today was no different.  _What a great guy._

The rest of the day went by without another call. Noah spent the day around the station either running drills or sitting in the common room. Haydn was with him almost the entire day, _looking amazing_ , running the same drills or sitting quietly with him in the common room. By nine o’clock Noah’s shift had ended and by coincidence, so had Haydn’s. 

“Sepe and I are going for drinks, you guys want to come?” Teuvo asked, looking towards Noah. He looked to Haydn who in turn was looking back at him.

“Sure.” Noah answered with a shrug. “What about you, Haydn? Coming?”

“Sure.”

It was a quiet car ride with Sebastian and Teuvo to the closest bar. Noah sat beside Haydn in the back, both of them staring down at their phones for the majority of the trip.

The last thing Noah remembered about that night was getting out of the car.

* * *

 Haydn didn’t drink. Every time he ever had more than two drinks, he had an awful hangover the next morning. Noah, on the other hand, l _oved_ to drink. He could go through a pack of beer like it was water and still wake up the next morning in time for his shift. Haydn never really understood how he was able to consume so much alcohol and not be completely trashed, but he decided that it was a topic for another day. Within fifteen minutes of group getting settled into the bar Noah was on his third drink of the night. He was telling Sebastian something about his time in college, but Haydn wasn’t paying attention. _Is that a new shirt?_ _I’ve never seen it before. Looks good._ He sat there quietly across from him, watching his lips move. _How can he already be on his third drink? He’s not slurring his words or anything. Where the hell did he learn to drink like that?_ Haydn rested his head against his hand, still focused on Noah’s lips.

“You like him?” A force close to his ear snapped him back to reality. It was Teuvo, looking uninterested in the conversation that was happening across from them.

“What?” Haydn asked, sure he has misheard something.

“You and Hanny? You like him?” Teuvo said again. 

Haydn froze. Noah was sitting directly across from him, still talking to Sebastian. “How.. how did you know?” He asked, making sure to control his volume. Teuvo let out a small laugh.

“I didn’t. Just a guess,” he said with a smirk. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell. You should though, never know what he’ll say.”

Haydn shook his head. “No way. He’s not… well I don’t think he is. No. I know he’s not…” he was dancing around the word. “He would never want to be with me. Not like that." 

“How would you know?” Teuvo asked with a shrug. “You won’t know for sure until you ask. That’s what I did.” He glanced over at Sebastian, who was still listening to Noah talk. “Take a chance.”

They stayed at the bar for two hours. Noah did most of the talking, with Sebastian or Teuvo occasionally saying something that changed the topic. Noah had gone through three beers, four shots of tequila, and a glass of whiskey, and was still able to function almost normally. “Hey. Let’s go dancing,” Noah blurted out. “I haven’t been in months.” Before anyone had a chance to respond he was already walking towards the door.

If there was one thing Haydn hated more than drinking, it was dancing. He wasn’t coordinated at all, so his ‘dancing’ was more like flailing. _Great. The last thing I wanted to do tonight was embarrass myself._ The group quickly caught up to Noah and walked down the street to the nearest club. After flashing their ID’s at the door they entered to room, Haydn was immediately filled with regret. The club was loud. The music was blaring and everyone in there was either yelling or singing, or both. The lights were dim except for a few spotlights that were bouncing along the walls. Sebastian grabbed Teuvo’s hand and immediately headed towards the back of the room. Teuvo turned his head and gave Haydn a small smile, as if to say _‘good luck’_ before following Sebastian.

“Dance with me!” Noah yelled over the music, and before Haydn could decline, he was grabbing his wrist and pulling him to the center of the dance floor. Noah was a great dancer, the way he let his body move to the music was almost criminal, his hips moving perfectly with the beat. Haydn knew he was staring, but he didn’t care. Noah looked so care free. “You going to stare at me all night or are you going to dance?” He asked as the first song was fading out.

Haydn could feel his entire body turning red. “No sorry, I umm, I don’t dance.”

“Of course you do,” Noah said putting his hands around Haydn’s waste and pulling him closer. “Everyone dances.” Haydn could feel his body getting warmer. _Shit._ Noah positioned his hands around Haydn’s hips and began to move to the beat of the music. He closed his eyes. What was suppose to be a five minute song turned into what felt like hours. He could feel Noah’s gentle hands running up and down his body. _Is this how people dance together?_ Then, finally, the song began to fade out. A part of Haydn didn’t want it to end, but the realistic part of him was relieved that he had managed not to embarrass himself. He opened his eyes to find Noah gently holding his face, looking directly into his eyes. Before he could react Noah’s lips were against his; Haydn’s heart could have jumped out of his chest.

_He’s drunk. He doesn’t mean this. Don’t get your hopes up._

The kiss lasted a lifetime. Haydn moved his hands up to meet Noah’s face, caressing his jawline. Noah fingers ran through his hair and met each other around Haydn’s neck. He didn’t know what was happening and he didn’t care. He wanted to live in this moment forever. Finally, their lips parted and Noah rested his forehead against Haydn’s.

“I…” Noah started. His face was pale and his hands suddenly extremely clammy. “I’m going to be sick.”

* * *

Everything was bright. It seemed as if the entire room was made out of light. Noah shifted away to the best of his ability, positioning his face as far away from the source as possible. His head felt like it was going to explode. He had only ever had a hangover once in his life, but he assumed that he was having another. On top of that, he had no idea where he was; the night before was a blur of colors and faces, bright lights and strange sounds. Noah did his best to look around the room, though it hurt his eyes to do so. _Where am I_? The light was blurring his vision, but he could make out a few square objects around the room. _A bedroom?_ He turned into his stomach and stuck his face into whatever was under his head. A pillow. _Great. Did I go home with someone?_ He couldn’t help but breath in the smell of the fabric. It was a familiar smell, but he couldn’t quite place it. _Who ever it was, they smell nice._ The longer he laid there to more his body began to ache. “Fuck,” he said quietly, covering his eyes with his hands. He rolled back onto his side and looked towards the door of the room. It was open, and someone was standing in the threshold.

“Good morning to you too,” The figure said, leaning against the doorway. “You’re up earlier than I expected.”

“Fleury?” Noah asked with a groan. “What the fuck happened last night?”

Haydn smiled. “I had a feeling you wouldn’t remember,” he said, walking into the room and closing the blinds. The lights dimmed, and Noah could now see the room around him. It was small, only housing a dresser and the bed he was laying in. Haydn came and sat beside him as he spoke. “We went to a bar with Sebastian and Teuvo, you got trashed, dragged us to a club and spent an hour dancing.” Noah shook his head. _Yeah. Sounds like something I would do._ “After that I walked you back here because Teuvo didn’t want you in his car. I don’t blame him honestly, you were a mess.” He nudged Noah with his elbow. “You’re a real pain in the ass when you’re drunk.”

Noah grunted. “I know. In my defense I was too drunk to know that I was being a pain in the ass.” He sat up and looked around. “Where are we?”

“My apartment. I was going to bring you to yours, but you said you left your keys at the station,” Haydn said. “I knew you were lying, but I didn’t want to argue with you.” He motioned to the nightstand that was beside the bed, on top of which was Noah’s keys, wallet, and phone.

“Thanks, dude, I owe you one.” Noah sat up and grabbed his phone. There were a handful of texts notifications, nothing out of the ordinary. “SHIT,” he said suddenly. “I have a shift today.” He basically fell out of the bed, tossing away the blanket that fell with him. A rush of cold air met his bare skin. _Where are my fucking clothes? Did we have… no we couldn’t have. He wouldn’t._

“Noah, chill out,” Haydn said, reaching over the bed to grab Noah’s arm. “I called Skinny last night and told him you couldn’t come in today.” Noah plopped back down onto the bed. “Your clothes are in the washer,” he got up and made his way to the dresser. After opening a few drawers and shuffling around, he turned to Noah with a neatly folded pile. “You can wear this until your clothes are dry.” Noah could feel his cheeks start to get red.

“Thanks,” he said, slipping Haydn’s shirt over his head. It was one of the many shirts he had gotten from the station with his name on the back. It was a little big, but not enough to be uncomfortable.

“I made breakfast if you’re good to eat,” Haydn said walking towards the door. “If not, I have a pitcher of water and a couple of Tylenol with your name on it.”

Noah waited until he was completely out of the room to smile. Haydn was an unbelievably good guy, which made the fact that they would never be together even more unbearable. He quickly slid on the pants that he had provided and met Haydn in the next room. Looking around, he noticed that the apartment was ridiculously clean. An open concept connected the living room to the kitchen, everything neatly in its place. Haydn gave him a small smile from the breakfast bar and pulled out the stool beside him, offering it to Noah. He had two plate full of food in front of him, along with a very large glass of water and a bottle of Tylenol.

“So,” Noah said, taking the seat. “Did we, um. I mean did I…” He stuttered. _How do I ask someone if we slept together?_ “Where did you sleep last night?” _Close enough._

“Couch,” Haydn said through a mouthful of food. Noah let out a quiet sigh of relief. _Great. Didn’t sleep with him._ “After what happened at the club I decided it was best to-” He didn’t have time to finish before Noah cut him off.

“What happened at the club?”

“Nothing,” Haydn said, almost too quickly. “I shouldn’t have brought it up.”

“Well you did, so tell me.” Noah was trying not to sound aggressive, but he needed to know.

“It was nothing, really.”

“Haydn, tell me.”

“You got really sick. It was really bad, like you could barely walk without holding onto something. I didn’t think that it would be okay for you to sleep on the couch, so I let you take the bed. That’s why you’re clothes are in the washer. They were covered in vomit.”  He looked away. Something about the story didn’t seem completely right to Noah, but he decided that it was best not to push any farther.

“I have to get to the station,” Haydn said, getting up from his stool. “Stay as long as you want. If you leave before I get back, there’s a spare key by the door, I’ll get it back from you later.” With that he quickly gathered his things and headed out the door. Noah put his head in his hands. _I must have done something really shitty. What the fuck could I have said to get him to act like that?_ Haydn was the type of person to tell the truth no matter what, mostly because he was an awful liar. He racked his brain, trying to remember any details about the night before. _Okay. We left the station, drove over to the bar… shit._ He couldn’t remember anything past the drive.

Noah waited until his clothes were dry, gathered his things, and left.

* * *

 How are you supposed to tell the person that you love that they accidentally kissed you? ‘ _Yeah you totally kissed me and it was the best moment of my life, but don’t worry I know you’re straight and didn’t it didn’t mean anything to you._ ’ Was a little more forceful than Haydn wanted to be, considering that Noah didn’t remember anything. The thought buzzed through his head as he walked down the street. He hadn’t actually been called into work, but he couldn’t stand to be in a room alone with Noah.  _Why would he kiss me?_ Was another thought he couldn’t shake. If Noah was straight he wouldn’t be caught dead kissing another man. Which meant that he wasn’t straight, right? Maybe he was bisexual and he just preferred women. Haydn had never seen him with a woman. As he thought more about it, Haydn realized that he had never heard Noah mention anyone he was dating, male or female.  _He was probably just fucking with me._

 By the time Haydn had got to the station everyone else had already clocked in and started their shifts. “Haydn? Hey! I didn’t think that you were coming in today,” Jeff said, greeting him at the door. Although he was technically his boss, Jeff being a lieutenant and Haydn only being in his second year, he was one of the people at the station that Haydn felt comfortable opening up to.

“I’m not supposed to, but I needed to get out of the house,” Haydn responded, filling out his timecard and logging it into the electronic system. “I had a weird night.”

“You want to talk about?” 

“Not right now. I need to let it settle first.” As much as Haydn wanted to talk about what happened, he didn’t think his boss was the best option at the moment.

Jeff smiled. “Been there. Let me know if you ever want to though, my door’s always open.” He motioned to his office that was just to the left of them. “Literally. The door doesn’t close all of the way.”

“Thanks,” Haydn said with a small smile. Jeff nodded and walked away, presumably resuming whatever he had been doing before he had been interrupted.

Haydn spent the day around the station, doing whatever needed to be done: paperwork and cleaning mostly. His mind was suddenly rid of anything related to Noah or the night before. He was focused on work, _on doing something productive_. Haydn spent hours making sure every detail of whatever he was doing was perfect. Every few hours Jeff would come and check in on him, each time asking the same question. 

“You okay?” he would ask. It must have been the look on Haydn’s face, a mix of misery, sadness, anger, and determination, that made lead to Jeff’s concern.

“Yep. Just working on this.” Haydn would answer, offering him a fake smile. By nine o’clock Jeff kicked him out of the station.

“Go get some rest. You can’t stay here doing paperwork all night,” he said with a smile. Haydn nodded, finished the document he had been working on, clocked out, and began the walk back to his apartment. By the time he got home, Noah was gone. _Thank god._ He didn’t know if he would be able to handle having another conversation with him for a while. He made himself a quick dinner and stayed up for a few hours flipping through channels on the television, not being able to focus on anything. Around ten o’clock he dragged himself to bed, plopping face-first into his pillows.

_They smell nice._

_They smell like Noah._  

 Haydn’s mind instantly flooded with the questions that had plagued him earlier that morning. _There’s no way he meant it. He was just fucking with me. Noah would never be caught with another man. He was drunk. Kissing me literally made him sick._ He could feel tears forming; rather than stop them, Haydn allowed himself to cry. 

For what seemed like hours, he laid there, sobbing quietly.

* * *

Two weeks had gone by since Noah last spoke to Haydn. Every time they were in the same room Haydn hardly acknowledged him. Instead of the ‘good morning’ that he had grown accustomed to, he was now met with a cold gaze, or worse, nothing at all. _I miss his voice._ Noah didn’t know what he had done, if anything, to cause him to act this way towards him, but he needed to find out.

“Jeff?” He heard Haydn’s voice say softly from across the station. “Can we talk for a second?” _No._ _He’s going to ask to be transferred._ Noah began to panic. _What if he leaves? How am I supposed to be with him if he’s not here?_

“Sure, Haydn!” Jeff said, ushering him inside of his office. Noah snuck as close to the room as he could, trying not to let either see him.

“Do you remember a couple of weeks ago when I came and did paperwork for, like, eight hours even though I wasn’t called in?” Haydn asked, sounding a little embarrassed.

“Yeah.” Jeff answered. “It was a little concerning to be honest. I’ve never seen someone be that focused on doing paperwork.”

Haydn let out a small laugh. _His laugh is so cute._ “Well, it’s not really related to work, but I wanted to talk to you about what happened the night before. I need to tell _someone_.”

“Of course. What’s up?”

“Well, I’m not really sure where to start.” Haydn paused, trying to gather his thoughts. “That night Sebastian, Teuvo, Noah, and I went drinking. Long story short, we ended up at a club and Noah kissed me.” 

Noah’s heart stopped. _I kissed him? How the fuck did I let that happen._ It took all of his self control to keep from busting into the room and explaining himself.

Jeff took a minute to respond. “And you’re mad at him because of it?”

“No! Normally  I would be ecstatic he did,” Haydn paused, and lowered his voice. “I’ve had a _huge_ crush on him for a while.” Noah couldn’t believe what he was hearing. _He’s like me this whole time and I didn’t fucking notice?_ “I’m just… confused I guess. I don’t understand why he… I don’t think it’s just because he was drunk, he wouldn’t let that happen. I mean, I don’t think he would.”

_Damn right I wouldn’t._

“Have you talked to him about it?” Jeff asked.

“God no,” Haydn answered before Jeff could finish. “I haven’t talked to him since that morning.”

“Why not? It sounds like talking it out would solve most of your problems.” Noah could tell that Jeff was confused.

“I don’t want things to change, I guess. If I talk to him about it I risk losing him as a friend, and I _definitely_ don’t want that to happen.” Haydn sounded genuinely upset. _You wouldn’t!_ Noah wanted to scream. He wanted to go in there, take Haydn by the hands and explain everything, but now wasn’t the right time or place.

“I think the sooner you talk it out, the better. If he’s really a good friend this won’t disturb anything,” Jeff said. He continued talking, but Noah had stopped listening. He was coming up with a plan to tell Haydn everything.

He had to.

* * *

It had been a long day. Haydn wanted nothing more to get into his bed and go to sleep. He dragged himself up the stairs to his apartment door, fumbling for his keys in his pocket. As he came closer to his door, he noticed someone sitting in front of it with their head in their hands. Haydn froze. “Noah?” _What the fuck._  

“Haydn! Hey,” He pushed himself up off of the floor. “I um, I thought it would be weird if I used the key.” He held up his hand, in which was Haydn’s spare key. _I’ve been looking for that._

“What are you doing here?” The last thing Haydn wanted to do tonight was talk to him. Noah stared at him, like he didn’t know what to say.

“I needed to talk to you. I know it’s late and I’m sorry for showing up like this, but it can’t wait.” He looked serious.

“Fine,” Haydn sighed, pushing past him and unlocking the door. “What’s up?” He tossed his keys onto the kitchen counter and made his way to his couch. Before he could get there, Noah grabbed his arm. In a split second Noah’s lips were pressed against his own. Haydn’s mind went completely blank. _What’s happening?_ For that brief few seconds it was like nothing mattered, but it ended as quickly as it started.

“I’m sorry,” Noah whispered. “I don’t remember our first kiss. I’ve been trying all day to remember but I can’t.”

“How do you…” Haydn started. He had so many questions, but couldn’t manage to get any of them out.

“I knew something was up after you wouldn’t tell me what happened at the club that night. I assumed that I had just done something stupid and you were trying to save my pride, but then you stopped talking to me.” Haydn had never heard Noah talk this way before; for the first time he sounded vulnerable.  “I thought that I was overthinking it and that maybe you weren’t doing it on purpose, but then I heard you talking with Jeff today.” Haydn’s could feel his face go red.

“You… heard that?”

“Yeah. I’m sorry for eavesdropping, I just… I had to know what was going on.” Noah took Haydn by the hand and led him to the couch. Haydn followed, not sure he had the strength to resist. “When I heard you say that I had kissed you in the club my heart stopped. I had no idea… I…” He paused, trying to gather his words. “I’ve been trying to work up the nerve to make a move for a while now. I never thought about what I would do after I had been drinking.” he said gently, rubbing his thumb across Haydn’s knuckles. “I’m sorry.”

“I had no idea that you were… well, that you’d be interested in me,” Haydn managed to say quietly.

“Are you kidding?” Noah said much louder, taking his hand from Haydn’s and placing it on his cheek. “I’m _crazy_ about you. Have been for a while.”

Haydn smiled. “Me too.”

* * *

 The next thing Noah knew Haydn was laying on him, perfectly asleep. They had talked for hours about anything and everything, as if nothing had ever happened and made dinner before going back to the couch and deciding to watch TV. It didn’t take long for Haydn to get comfortable, stretching out onto his couch and placing his head in Noah’s lap. Within five minutes Haydn was quietly snoring. Noah sat there for hours, switching focus between the television and Haydn. His heart was just beginning to settle and yet it was still beating _ridiculously_ fast. To be honest, he didn’t think that it would ever slow back down. For a second, he let his mind trace over what had happened within the past couple hours. _We worked it out, we’re good now. I told Haydn that I had feelings for him. He said he had feelings for me. Does that mean we’re... together?_ He didn’t really care. For the time being, he wanted to live in the moment. He was there with the person he loved, and that was all that really mattered. After a few more hours Noah decided it was time to go to bed. It was late, and they both had to do a shift the next afternoon. As gently as he could, he eased his way out from under Haydn. _Do I wake him up or…_ He contemplated it for a second, and decided it was best not to. Noah slid one of his hands softly under Haydn’s knee and the other behind his back, slowly lifting him off of the couch. Noah let out a small sigh. _Good. Didn’t wake up._ He carried Haydn slowly to his bedroom, kicking the door open with his foot and laying Haydn gently down on the bed. _Should I take his clothes off? No._ He dismissed the thought quickly. _Too soon. Guess he’s sleeping in jeans._ He managed to slip the sheets out from under Haydn’s body and back over him. Haydn immediately shifted into his pillows. Without thinking, Noah stripped down to his boxers and joined Haydn in the bed. Haydn adjusted again, this time bringing his body closer to Noah’s. He slipped his arm around his waist, trying his best to be gentle.

If someone would have told him the week before that he would have been sharing a bed with Haydn, he would have told them they were crazy. Noah inched his head closer to Haydn’s, resting it at the base of his neck. Although his face was turned, he has the feeling that Haydn was smiling. He closed his eyes, planting a small kiss on Haydn’s neck.

“Goodnight, beautiful.”

* * *

 Haydn woke up with a smile. He didn’t remember how he got there, but he and Noah were laying in his bed together, his head laying on Noah’s bare chest. He was still in his clothes from the day before, so he must have not gotten to the room himself. _Did he bring me in here? Why would he let me sleep in jeans?_ The night before had been amazing. After he and Noah had worked out their problems, they had talked for hours on end, as if nothing had ever happened.

As gently as he could, Haydn grabbed his phone to check the time; it was just after noon. _How did we sleep this long? Shit. We have a shift at two don’t we._ He set his phone back on the nightstand and turned back to Noah, who was still fast asleep. Haydn leaned over him pressed his lips to Noah’s; he didn’t move. Haydn kissed him again, this time more forceful than the last; still nothing. He tried one more time, grabbing Noah’s face to lift it off of the pillow. Pulling his face away, he could tell that Noah was smiling.

“You suck,” Haydn said, letting go of Noah’s face and letting it plop down to the pillow. He sat up in the bed, grabbing his phone and scrolling through the notifications.

“I was hoping you would keep going,” Noah said with a smirk. “Fourth time’s the charm.” He grabbed Haydn’s shoulder, pulling him back down to his level. “Sleep well?”

“Too well. You know we have a shift in two hours right?” He paused. “Did you carry me in here last night?”

“I know. Jeff always assumes I’m going to be late, so we’ll be fine," he laughed. “Maybe I did; and _maybe_ I didn’t know if it would have been weird for me to take your clothes off, so that’s _maybe_ why you’re wearing yesterday’s clothes.” He turned over on his side and pushed himself over Haydn’s body, putting one leg on either side of his torso. “But we’ll never know for sure.”

Haydn pushed himself back up so that is back was leaning against his headboard. “For future reference, I’m perfectly fine with you taking my clothes off.”

“Is that an invitation?” Noah asked with a smirk, pulling at Haydn’s shirt. Haydn jerked his body to the left, causing Noah to fall to the side. He quickly slid out of the bed, and made his way to the bathroom.

“ _Maybe._ Not right now. Unlike you, I’m usually early for work.” He slid into the bathroom and closed the door, leaving Noah alone in the bedroom. He sighed into a huge smile, leaning his body against the door. _There is absolutely nothing that could top this._ He slipped out of his clothes and took a quick shower, smiling the entire time. Wrapping a towel around his hips, he made his way back into the bedroom where Noah was still sitting. “Are you planning on getting up today?” He asked, walking over to the bed and giving Noah a shove. Noah sat there for a few seconds in silence, staring at Haydn. “Noah?”

With a heavy breath Noah snapped out of his silence. “Yeah? Sorry.” he rolled to his feet, landing between Haydn and the bed. “Not to be weird,” he said, putting his hands around his waist. “But you have an amazing body.”

Haydn’s felt his face go red. “How do you expect me to respond to that?” he said with a laugh. Noah pushed himself onto his toes and placed a kiss on his forehead.

“You don’t have to. I just wanted you to know.” Noah slipped past him and into the doorway. “Can I use your shower?”

“Sure. It’s across the hall.” Noah nodded, crossing the hall and closing the door. Haydn stood there for a second, soaking it all in. _He’s amazing._ While Noah was showering, he quickly got dressed and started to collect his things for work. He was going to sleep at the station, so he gathered some clothes and shoved them into his duffle bag. _I wonder if Noah wants to bring a bag. He’s probably going to want to stay at the station too._

“Noah.” He yelled from the bedroom. There was no answer, so he moved closer to the bathroom door. “Noah?” he said again, knocking this time. Still nothing. _If he’s ignoring me again I’m going to punch him._ Haydn knocked one more time before opening the door. He was greeted by a column of steam from the shower. The door to the shower was made of glass and fogged over, but he could still see the outline of Noah’s body. “Umm, Noah?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you need clothes?” Haydn asked awkwardly.

Noah let out a small laugh. “Nah. I brought my duffle with me.” He paused. “I mean, I didn’t have plans on sleeping here. I _wanted to_ but I wasn’t planning on it. I just had it with me from work.”

Haydn smiled. “Okay, cool. Just wanted to make sure.” He stood there for a second, the only noise was the running water. “I’m leaving now.”

“You don’t want to join me?” Noah asked. Without seeing him, Haydn could tell he was smirking, he was _always_ smirking when he said things like that.

“No,” Haydn said bluntly, he knew that him not playing along would piss Noah off. “Have fun alone.” He swung the door open and loudly closed it behind himself. He spent a few minutes after that gathering the rest of his things. Just as he was about to start making something for himself and Noah to eat he heard the bathroom door open. He turned to see Noah’s bare body sliding into his bedroom, no towel. “You know I have towels right?” Haydn yelled from across the apartment.

“I couldn’t find them," Noah yelled back. "And you weren’t supposed to see that,”  Haydn rolled his eyes.

“Stay there I’ll grab one for you.” He made his way to the bathroom, dodging the puddles of water that tracked from there to his bedroom. He grabbed a towel and tossed it blindly into the room, not daring to look.

“Thanks,” Noah called.

“No problem. Wipe up the water in the hall when you’re done,” Haydn answered, going back the kitchen.

“Yes sir.” It didn’t take long for Noah to get dry and dressed. He wiped up the water in the hall and tossed the towel into the laundry room, located to the left of the bathroom.

“Do you want anything to eat? We have time,” Haydn said, checking his watch.

“I’m fine.”

“You should eat something. It’s not good to go to work without food in your system.”

“I think I’ll be okay,” Noah said with a smile. He grabbed his things and started to walk towards the door.

“At least take this,” Haydn said grabbing his hand and placing a banana and a granola bar in it. “Don’t eat it if you want, but I’ll feel better if you take it.”

 Noah looked down at the items and smiled. He quickly pulled Haydn closer and kissed his cheek. “You’re too good for me.”

“I know.”

* * *

 It didn’t take them long to walk to the station. The entire time they were talking and laughing, and occasionally holding hands when no one was around. Noah couldn’t help but focus on Haydn’s eyes as he talked. _How can someone have eyes that blue. It’s criminal. And the rest of his body? Ugh. How can he be so fucking perfect and be kind AND be into me?_

 “Should we have walked here separately?” Haydn asked as the station came into view.

 “Why would we have done that?”

“So that no one knows thinks that we were together.” Haydn paused. “Not that I don’t want them to think that. Well, I mean, I don’t want them to. Not because I’m embarrassed to be with you though. I just don’t think that it’s a good idea to go around telling everyone that we work with that we’re-” Noah cut him off.

“I get it. I don’t think it’s a good idea to tell anyone either. Not yet at least.” Noah grabbed his hand for a brief second. “We’ll be fine. If anyone asks we’ll just say it was a coincidence that we got here at the same time.” Haydn nodded and gave a small toothless smile.

They walked into the station together, with no one even bothering to look up. They clocked in one after another and entered the common room where Trevor, Cam, and Elias were playing a card game and Justin and Brett were having a rather loud argument over something in front of the television.

“Dogwood!” Pesce called out as soon as he was in viewing sight. “Tell Faulker that he’s being an idiot.”

“No. Tell Pesce that he’s being a hardass,” Justin said in retaliation, giving Pesce a dirty look.

“I have no idea what’s going on,” Haydn said going to go sit in between the two. _See you in a few hours._ Noah laughed to himself. Faulk and Pesce were friends, but they argued a lot. When they got into it, it was usually an all day affair. Noah started to make his way to the back of the room, but was stopped by Jeff.

“Hey, Noah! Can I talk to you for a second?” he asked, ushering Noah into his office.

“What’s up Skinny?” Noah asked taking a seat across from his desk.

“Have you talked to Haydn? He came in here and talked to me yesterday and I don’t want to say what it was about, but I think you guys should talk.” Jeff had a grim expression on his face.

“Yeah, we talked it out. We’re all good now.” Noah said with a smile. _Oh, if you only knew how good we were._  

“Really?” Jeff asked, his expression completely changing. “Great! I’m glad you two could work it out.” Noah nodded in agreement.

“Me too,” he said. Noah was going to say something else, but he was stopped by the alarm.

 

_Bweeeeeeeee_

“ _House fire. 11-82, code two. EMT one. HLS to truck one._ ”

 

“That’s us,” Jeff said as they both exited the office. Faulk and Pesce were still arguing as they were putting on their gear, with Elias stuck between them, not looking very happy. 

“Will you two _please_ put this on hold until we’re done?” He asked harshly.

“No,” Pesce said.

“You’re not even driving with us, why do you care?” Faulk said over him. Elias rolled his eyes and hopped into the fire truck with Jeff and Cam. Before Noah joined them he caught Haydn out of the corner of his eye mouthing something.

_Be safe._

Noah nodded just enough for Haydn to see him and joined the others in the truck. The ride to the job didn’t take long, but even before they got there they could see the smoke in the sky. The fire was massive, one of the largest that Noah had seen in a while. The flames extended a good way past the house itself, creeping into the yards of the neighboring houses. They immediately went to work, utilizing the nearby fire hydrant to combat the flames. Justin and Brett started tending to the homeowners, who seemed to be fine besides the occasional cough. Truck two along with Jaccob, Joakim, and Marcus had come about halfway through the process in hopes of speeding it along. In total it took four hours to completely douse the flame, by that time the sun had set. The two trucks quickly packed up and headed back to the station. As they re-entered, Noah noticed the common room was empty except for Haydn and Trevor.

“Well, that took forever,” Justin said throwing himself onto the couch and slamming his feet onto the coffee table.

“You weren’t the one by the fire.” Elias chirped. “You just sat in your bus the whole time.” Their conversation went on, but Noah had stopped paying attention. He made his way to Haydn and sat down beside him.

“Hey,” he said quietly. He was about to put his head on Haydn’s shoulder, but he stopped himself. _Why do there have to be other people here?_ “Hey Trevor.”

“How’d it go?” Trevor asked after giving him a nonverbal hello.

“Fine. It was a big one,” Noah said stretching his arms out and resting them on the back of the couch. Trevor nodded, checked his watch, and slowly pushed himself up.

“Well, I’m out of here. See you guys later,” he said, making his way over to the time cards. The boys both offered him a goodbye and them turned back to each other.

“So…” Noah said, checking that no one was looking at them before grabbing Haydn’s hand. “How was your day?” Haydn immediately tried to snatch his hand away, raising his eyebrows. 

“ _What are you doing?”_ He whispered. “ _We are at work.”_

“No one’s paying attention to us. Now, tell me about your day.” Haydn shook his head in disapproval. 

“It was uneventful. I mostly sat here with Trevor and talked about work stuff,” he answered, still trying to pull his hand away. Just then a loud noise came from Haydn’s direction. Haydn’s face immediately turned a bright shade of red. 

“Woah!” Noah said laughing. “Was that your stomach?” Haydn game a small nod.

“Haven’t eaten all day,” he looked around and continued in a softer tone. “I got nervous after the third hour you were gone, I kinda forgot to eat.” Noah shifted his hand around Haydn’s and began moving his thumb gently over his knuckles.

“Really? Dude that’s so sweet.” Noah leaned his head past the back of the couch and kissed the back of Haydn’s hand. “I’ll go make you something to eat, hold on.”

“Do you know how to cook?” Haydn asked, surprised.

“Nope. But for you, I’ll try,” Noah said confidently. “How hard can it be?” Haydn giggled and started to get up with him.

“I’ll come help,” he said pushing himself up. Noah immediately pushed him back down.

“You cook for me all of the time. I got this.” Noah made his way back to the kitchen and opened up the refrigerator. Inside there nothing except for Sriracha and a jar of alfredo sauce. _Okay. I got this. We’ve got pasta sauce, so I’ll just boil some pasta. Easy._ He went through the cabinets until he found a bag of dry spaghetti noodles. _This will do._

The instructions seemed easy enough. Two cups of water, bring it to a boil, cook for ten minutes. He grabbed a pot and poured what he thought was two cups of water into the bottom. _Do I need to measure this out? I think I’m good._ He turned the stove on high and waited. Once the water came to a boil he tossed the noodles in and set a timer on his phone for ten minutes. _Perfect. Now we wait._ He walked out of the kitchen towards the table where Justin and Elias were sitting. They had finally finished arguing and were now having a civil conversation about something on Justin’s phone.

“Whatcha’ doing Hanny?” Elias asked, noticing him exiting the kitchen.

“Making dinner for me and Fleury,” Noah answered. “Haven’t eaten all day.”

“Fuck the rest of us, I guess,” Justin chirped.

“Should have said something before I started,” Noah chirped back, he was always pretty good with comebacks to Justin’s dry humor.

“We’re out her-” Justin started. “Is that smoke?” he asked, motioning to the kitchen. _Shit._ Noah ran into the kitchen to see the noodles sitting at the bottom of the pot, dry as a bone and brown.

“Please tell me you just burnt _fucking noodles_ ,” Justin said, leaning over his shoulder. He had come in with him, bring Elias along as well.

“Shut up,” Noah said trying to scrape the noodles out of the pot. “I don’t know what happened. I followed the instructions and everything.” 

“Not enough water,” Haydn’s voice rang out from the threshold. _SHIT._ Noah had been hoping that he hadn’t noticed. “Did you measure it out?”

“No,” Noah said hanging his head. Justin bursted into a fit of laughter and went back to his seat with Elias, laughing the entire way.

“Thanks for the effort though,” Haydn said, patting him on the shoulder. “I think I’m just going to head to sleep.”

“I’ll go with you,” Noah said just loud enough for Haydn to hear. They made their way to the bunk-room, not bothering to turn the lights on. Noah climbed up to his bed and Haydn ducked down to his. “Are you not going to join me?” Noah asked in the darkness.

“No. We’re at work, Noah.” Haydn brushed him off.

“It’s not like anyone will notice. Just climb up here until someone comes in.”

“I don’t know. It doesn’t seem like a good idea.” Haydn declined again. “You can just come home with me tomorrow." 

“Tomorrow isn’t tonight. Come on, babe.”

“Babe?” Haydn scoffed. “When did you start calling me _that_?”

 “Just now. Why? You don’t like it?”

“I’m deciding.” Noah felt the bed jerk, and suddenly Haydn was on top of him. “I’ll get back to you.” He pecked Noah on the forehead. Noah shifted as close to the edge of the bed as he could, letting Haydn slip behind him. It was a tight fit, but they managed to mangle their bodies together, their legs intertwined. Noah had never really been the little spoon when he was cuddling with anyone, he liked it; _he felt safe_. They laid there in silence, Haydn’s arm hung over his body, his finger making small circles on his torso. After an hour or so the door cracked open and two bodies slid into the room. Noah sighed. “Guess that’s my cue,” Haydn whispered into his ear.

Noah frowned and grabbed Haydn’s arm. “You don’t have to.”

“Yes, I do,” Haydn said, sliding down to the edge of the bed. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight beautiful.”

* * *

It had been almost three months since that night and yet Haydn remembered it like it had just happened. They had been together for not even a day and already they were acting like a gross couple. Only a month into their relationship, they decided to start living together. There had never been a conversation about it, Noah’s stuff just kept showing up at his home. What was first a drawer full of his things turned into a new wardrobe. Toothpaste and a hairbrush turned into half of the bathroom counter. Eventually Noah’s rent was up and Haydn extended the offer, which Noah graciously accepted. Everything had been perfect. They slept together every night they were home. _Not that they'd had sex. Yet._ Haydn knew it was only a matter of time. Just thinking about it made him blush with nerves. 

 

_Bweeeeeeeee_

 

The alarm interrupted Haydn’s thoughts.

 

“ _Car accident, 11-81, code two. EMT three. SKN to truck two."_

 

Haydn turned to Noah who was sitting beside him. With a smile and a small nod he got up and made his way to the ambulance. Justin was already inside with the engine running. “Trevor not here?” Haydn asked. Faulk was usually designated EMT one with Pesce.

“He took the day off,” Justin said with a frown. “Something about his dog being sick.” Haydn nodded and got into the passenger's seat. Flicking on the sirens they pulled out of the station and zoomed down the road. It was almost midnight, so the roads were empty. The accident wasn’t too bad. Someone had been rear ended, and both parties had refused medical services. They were sitting in the middle of an intersection, surrounded by a few barricades and one police officer there to direct traffic if any were to come.

 It was supposed to be a routine job. They had been there for not even ten minutes when Haydn noticed two bright lights and the sound of an accelerating vehicle in the distance. He glanced up to Justin, who was filling out paperwork, paying no mind to them. The lights were getting closer, as was the noise. Soon they were within eyesight, barreling down the road towards their position. The police officer flicked his lights, offering a warning to the driver to slow down. The lights were almost directly on them. The car ran straight through the barricades, not even bothering to slow down. Haydn didn’t have time to think. He jumped in front of Justin, pushing him as far away as he could. He felt his entire body fly weightlessly through the air, and then crumble back to the ground.  

The last thing he saw was a hazy figure rushing towards him.

And then everything went black.

* * *

_Bweeeeeeeee_

The alarm went off again.

 

“ _Car accident, 10-53, code one. EMT two. HLS to truck one.”_

“Another one? I feel like they just left,” Jeff said getting into his gear.

“Yeah. Maybe it’s just a busy night?” Elias agreed. It was rare for them to get calls at midnight, especially for a car accident.

“Did it say 10-53? Isn’t that man down?” Derek called, getting into his ambulance.

“They probably said the wrong code,” Klas responded from the other side. Noah didn’t quite know why, but he had a really bad feeling about this call. He had never heard the loudspeaker say anything about a 10-53, and barely ever heard something about a code one, an urgent job. He shook off the feeling and climbed into the truck with Cam, Jeff, and Elias. They took off into the night, following Klas and Ryan in their ambulance.

“Truck one?” Klas’ voice rang out from the radio. “It’s an R-47. No clue who it is yet.” Noah’s heart stopped. _R-47. Ambulance officer in trouble, police required._

_Haydn._

They pulled up to the site to find a herd of police cars surrounding the remains of an ambulance. The front of it was completely gone; glass, metal, and supplies from the truck lined the street. Klas and Derek rushed past the vehicle with a gurney in tow. _I need to find Haydn._ Before he could leave Jaccob, Marcus, and Nordy met them at the police line. 

“Drunk guy,” Marcus said, shaking his head. “Idiot didn’t even notice the fucking police car or the firetruck.” 

“Didn’t even slow down,” Jaccob added. “The truck’s a goner.”

“Where are Faulker and Dogwood?” Jeff asked. One by one their expressions turned from somber to grim.

“Faulker’s fine. Just a few scrapes,” Nordy explained. He paused before continuing, trying to find the best way to continue. “The car was coming straight for him, but Fleury pushed him out of the way. He got hit.” He kept talking, but Noah’s mind went blank. He wasn’t thinking anymore, he needed to get to Haydn. He pushed past the men and past the police officers. His eyes wildly scanning the crowd until he finally spotted Justin. He was with Klas and Derek, standing in a circle. Noah busted into a sprint. He could see the men picking up a large figure and placing it on the gurney that was between them. They then started to rush towards him. Noah only caught a glimpse of Haydn’s face. It was so bruised, cut, and swollen that he could hardly recognize it was him. He followed the men to the ambulance, where they quickly pushed Haydn in and closed the doors. _I need to be with him_. Before he could say anything, they were gone. The ambulance drove off, sirens blaring, towards the nearest hospital.

He stood there for a moment in shock. His entire body was shaking; the only thing running through his head was the short glimpse of Haydn’s battered face, repeating over and over again like a broken record. _Who did this?_ Noah started furiously looking around for any sign of the person who had been driving the car. Standing in a the middle of three police officers, Noah saw him. It was a tall white male, possible early twenties. He looked drunk, well beyond the legal limit. Before he knew what he was doing Noah was on top of him. His fist colliding with the man’s face until they were both covered in blood. The officers struggled with him, desperately trying to pull him off of the man.

"How fucking dare you. That was my fucking _boyfriend_ you bastard. How dare you do this to him. He has never done anything to deserve this. What the fuck were you doing? You don’t even fucking know his name. I will fucking kill you right here. _”_ Noah was screaming. The officers finally managed to push him away with the help of Jeff, Nordy, and Elias. Before the officers could say anything to him, Jeff was pulling him towards their firetruck and pushing him inside. Cam and Elisa quickly got in and they drove off into the darkness towards the station.

“What the hell were you thinking?” Cam yelled. “You could have been fucking arrested.” Noah didn’t respond. He was sitting in the back with his head in his hands, fuming. He didn’t have time for this, he had to get to Haydn.

“Hanny. Please, just listen for once in your fucking life,” Elias said from the passenger's seat. Noah slowly lifted his head up to make eye contact with him.

“We all care about Haydn and what happened sucks but you can’t go around punching people and exp-” Cam started, but he was cut off.

“I love him,” Noah said quietly.

“What?”

“I love him,” he repeated in the same tone. If he were to talk any louder he would have burst into tears. The truck was filled with a heavy silence. “If that had been your wife, would you have just walked away?”

Cam stared directly at the road, almost in shock. “No. I would have killed him.”

“Exactly,” Noah responded, still hushed. “That asshole hit my boyfriend with a car at full fucking speed. I wasn’t about to let him walk away from that.” Another silence fell over the truck.

“Your… boyfriend?” Elias asked. “I thought -”

“My boyfriend,” Noah answered. “We’ve been together for three months, we live together and I’m in love with him. He didn’t want me to tell anyone but right not I couldn’t give less of a shit.” Another silence. 

“Do you want me to drive you to the hospital?” Jeff asked as they pulled into the station. Noah nodded. Without saying another word they quickly changed from their uniforms and got into Jeff’s car.

What was normally a ten minute drive felt like hours. Noah sat there in nervous silence until Jeff pulled into the parking lot. He was about to jump out of the car, but Jeff stopped him. “Before we go in there,” he said grabbing Noah gently by the arm. “Keep in mind that the doctors are trying to help. Don’t do anything stupid.” Noah nodded silently, not wanting to talk back; he knew Jeff meant well by the comments. Together they walked into the hospital and to the reception desk. 

“Our friend was just brought in by an ambulance,” Jeff said politely to the woman sitting behind the desk.

“Can I get their name and date of birth?” she said in return.

“Haydn Fleury. July 8th, 1996.” Noah answered quickly. The woman’s focus shifted to her computer, where typed in the information.

“He’s currently in the ER. If you’d like to have a seat in our waiting room,” she gestured to her left to a room full of chairs and couches. “A doctor will be with you when there is an update.” Noah and Jeff thanked the woman and took a seat. They sat there in silence for six hours, Noah sitting there counting the seconds on his watch. Jeff had gone back to his apartment for a brief time to grab a phone charger and shower, but Noah refused to leave.

_He’s going to be fine. He has to be fine._

“Mr. Fleury?” A voice called from the side of the room. It was a women, possibly mid-50s, wearing scrubs. Noah tried to say something, but his voice had stopped working.

“That’s us,” Jeff said. They both stood and shook her hand.

“He just got out of the operating room,” she said. “He has several fractured ribs and a punctured lung. He also fractured his radius and has a hairline fracture on his ulna on the left side.” As she spoke she pointed to where each bone would be. “His left shoulder was dislocated, as was his clavicle.” Noah’s head was spinning. _What part of him isn’t broken?_ “He’s got a pretty nasty concussion too. All in all, he’s going to be in a substantial amount of pain for a while. The good news is that he’s alive and breathing mostly on his own.”

“Can we see him?” Jeff asked after looking at Noah. He would have asked himself, but he still couldn’t get his mouth to work. 

“Not today,” she answered shaking her head. “He needs to rest. Come back in twenty-four hours and he should be okay for visits.” Noah was shaking. _I need to see him._ His hands formed into a fist and he could feel his face getting hot. Then he felt a hand around his wrist. _Jeff._

“Will do. Thank you,” he said to the doctor. She nodded, shook each of their hands again, and walked back through the doors she came out of. “You should go home and get some sleep, come on.”

“I’m not leaving him.” Noah managed to say through clenched teeth.

“You’re not doing him any good staying here. You heard the doctor right? You’re not going to be able to see him until tomorrow.” Jeff put his arm around his shoulder and began pushing him towards the door. Noah knew he was right, but a part of him felt like he was abandoning Haydn.

“What if he wakes up and I’m not here?” Noah said with Jeff still pushing him closer to the exit.

“Then he’ll go back to sleep. Trust me, he’s not going anywhere.” He was right, again. They made their way to Jeff’s car and drove in silence. Noah could feel his body shutting down. He was exhausted, emotionally and physically. “Are you going to be okay alone?” Jeff asked as he pulled in front of the apartment complex. Noah nodded.

“Thanks, Jeff,” he said, getting out of the car. “Seriously. Thank you.” Jeff flashed him a smile.

“No problem. I’ll see you in twenty-four hours." 

“See you then.” Noah closed the door and Jeff drove off into the darkness. Noah made his way up the stairs to his door. He pulled out his key and struggled with the lock for a second, eventually getting it to open. As soon as he closed the door behind him, he broke. Noah slumped down against the door as tears began to roll down his face. He let himself fall to the ground and sob openly, not holding anything back. 

_How could I let this happen. I’m supposed to be there to protect him._

It felt like he was on the floor for hours, surrounded by his thoughts. He eventually found the strength to push himself up and made his way to the bedroom, _their_ bedroom. He slumped into the bed and closed his eyes, tears still forming and falling like rain from a cloud. By the time he opened his eyes again his phone was ringing.

“Hello?” he said groggily, not bothering to check who it was.

“Hey Noah, I just got a call from the hospital. Haydn’s awake. I’m on my way over now, should be there in five,” Jeff’s voice rang out. Noah shot up from the bed and all but ran to his wardrobe.

“I’ll be outside,” Noah answered, hanging up. He tossed on the first outfit that he grabbed, quickly brushed his teeth, and ran downstairs just as Jeff was pulling up. They drove the hospital, signed in, and were ushered down a cold hallway. 

“He’s still pretty weak, so don’t do anything to bold,” The nurse said with a small smile. “He’s been smiling all morning. Really great guy. You guys his brothers?” 

“Basically,” Jeff said, returning a smile.

The nurse knocked on the door before cracking it open. “The doctors in there, can you wait here for a second?” he asked before slipping into the room. They obeyed, waiting quietly just outside of the door until the doctor and nurse exited together.

“Good morning,” The doctor said, extending her hand. They both shook it quickly. “He’s good to go. He’s been up for a while, but is still fairly weak, so be careful with him.” She then stepped to the side, as if to usher them inside of the room.

There was a curtain separating the door from the rest of the room. Noah froze. _What if he doesn’t want to see me?_ Jeff put his arm around his shoulder and once again pushed Noah towards his fear. Past the curtain was a bright room with Haydn sitting in a bed surrounded by flowers, smiling as much as his face would let him. He looked terrible. The left side of his face was purple and swollen while the right side was covered in cuts and bruises. His arm was wrapped in a cast and with a sling hung around his neck.

“Noah!” he said cheerfully. Noah felt tears starting to form; he tried his best to hold them back, but he couldn’t. A single tear made its way down his face as he took a few steps towards him, stopping at the edge of his bed. Gently placing a hand on the right side of Haydn’s face, he lifted it to his and allowed their lips to meet. Noah felt Haydn’s body flinch. Noah immediately stopped, removing his hand and taking a step back.

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “I should have been there. I could have done something.”

“You weren’t called. Why would you have been there?” Haydn responded. “Don’t try and find a way to blame this on yourself.” He glanced over, spotting Jeff. “Skinny!” he said awkwardly. “How long have you been there?” 

Jeff laughed. “Don’t worry, Noah already told us.” Haydn’s eyes shot back to Noah, who was looking rather embarrassed.

“You what?”

“I may have told Skinny that we were together. And Lindy.”

“And Cam.” Jeff added.

“Great,” Haydn said, his smile fading. “Anyone else?”

“No.” Noah said hanging his head. “It just kinda slipped out. I’m sorry.”

“How does that just slip out?” Haydn asked. “I thought we agreed not to tell anyone.”

“He tried to kill the dude that hit you, in his defense.” Jeff piped up from the side of the room.

“What?” Haydn asked, directing his attention to Jeff.

“We had to drag him away. He was three seconds away from being arrested. When we got back to the truck Cam was _pissed._ He started yelling and saying how he can’t just hit people, and Noah was like ‘Would you fight him if it was your wife?’ and Cam was like ‘Yeah.’ and then he was like ‘Well I’m not going to let him do that to my boyfriend.’” Jeff almost acted out what was happening as he spoke. Haydn’s expression lightened as he turned his attention back to Noah, who had become very red.

“You didn’t have to do that,” he said. “But, thank you.” The smile returned to his face. _How can he be smiling right now? He has to be in a lot of pain. How can he possibly be happy?_

“I’m going to head home,” Jeff said heading towards the door. “Glad you’re okay, Dogwood. Text me if you need anything.” He gently patted the edge of Haydn’s bed and disappeared behind the curtain, the sound of the door closing followed. Haydn scooted himself to the side of his bed, patting the otherside, asking Noah to sit. Noah did so cautiously, being extremely careful not to disturb Haydn’s body.

“How are you holding up?” Haydn asked still smiling, laying his head on Noah’s shoulder. As Noah responded, he grabbed his hand and entangling their fingers.

 “I’m not the one that got hit by a car.” Noah answered squeezing his hand. “How can you be smiling right now? How are you _possibly_ happy?”

“I have plenty of reasons to be happy,” Haydn answered. “I’m happy to be alive. I’m happy that I still have all of my limbs. _I’m happy that you’re here._ ” He brought Noah’s hand up to face and rested his nose against it, his lips gently pressed to it. Noah could feel tears once again forming in his eyes. This time, he didn’t try to hold them back. They flooded down his face like a river. “Are you okay?” Haydn asked again. “It’s okay to say no.”

Noah shook his head. “You’re stronger than I am.”

“I know,” Haydn responded. He lifted his head so their eyes could meet. “Everything’s going to be okay.” Noah forced a smile.

“Aren’t I supposed to be the one telling you that?” He asked brushing tears away from his eyes.

“Probably,” Haydn said, planting a kiss on his cheek. “It’s okay though, you can say it next time.”

 “I love you,” Noah whispered, resting his forehead against Haydn’s. Haydn’s eyes widened as he pulled his face away from Noah’s.

“You do?”

“Yes.”

“You’re not just saying that because I’m… here?” He asked, gesturing to the room.

“No,” Noah answered, moving his hand so that his thumb was able to run against his knuckles. He wasn’t sure why he always did this, but somehow it helped convey his thoughts when his words failed. “I always have, I just didn’t know how to tell you.” Haydn chuckled, his face riddled with pain though he was still smiling. “You don’t have to say it back if yo-” He was cut off.

“I love you, too,” he said, planting on more kiss on Noah’s cheek before returning his head to his shoulder. “Glad we got that out of the way.” They sat there for a couple more hours, talking about whatever came up. Noah could tell that Haydn was happy to talk, as it probably distracted from the pain. As the sun was setting Noah was kicked out of the room by a nurse.

“He needs to rest,” The nurse said as she closed the blinds. Though he didn’t want to go, Noah complied.

“I’ll be back tomorrow,” he said as he was ushered out of the room. “Goodnight, beautiful.” With a kiss to Haydn’s forehead he left the room.

* * *

Haydn was on half a dozen pain killers, all of which seemed to do nothing. He had never been in so much pain in his life, but he wasn’t about to let Noah know that. During the day, Haydn sat quietly in his bed, scrolling through Instagram or Twitter in between doctor’s visits. At night, Noah would come with a dozen roses or a bag of fast food that he snuck past the nurses and the reception desk. He would stay for as long as he could, usually until midnight, and leave until the next day.The other guys from work took turns checking in on him. Whenever someone wasn’t called in, they would come and talk for a few hours. Justin would come in the most often and would try to fill him in on what was happening at work. More often than not, it turned into what he was arguing with Brett or Elias about that day, but Haydn didn’t mind. Jeff would come by at least once a week with a stack of paperwork that Haydn would help with. He was grateful for the work, it was a distraction from the pain.

He lived like that for a month. Then, finally, he was healed enough to leave. His doctor walked the discharge process, and the rate at which he would have to return for bi-weekly checks of his lungs, ribs, and arm.

“Is there anyone we can call to come get you?” She asked as he completed filling out his discharge paperwork.

“Ye-” He paused to think. _I’ll surprise him._ “No, thank you.”

“A cab then?" 

“That would be great, thank you.” She nodded and, with a few final papers, escorted Haydn down to the lobby. A cab was outside waiting. She walked with him outside and watched as he got into the car. Haydn instructed the driver, and they were off.

 

**< Don’t come tonight. Going to be doing a lot of tests. They won’t let you in.**

 

He typed. _Will he believe that? I guess he doesn’t have a reason not to._ Haydn pressed send, and within thirty seconds he has a response.

 

**> :( Think I can sneak in?**

**< Doubt it. They’ll probably have security out. :( nbd, I’ll see you tomorrow.  <3**

**> Fine I guess... I’ll see you tomorrow.  <3**

**< Wait… how long are you going to be at work?**

**> Get off in an hour. Why?**

**< We can Facetime if you want to :)**

**> Perfect. See you in an hour babe. ;)**

**< See you then  <3**

 

Just as he finished typing, the cab pulled up to his apartment. He slowly climbed the stairs, making sure to manage his breathing. Getting to his door was like seeing an old friend. He slipped the key into the lock and opened the door and was immediately hit with a familiar scent. The apartment was just as he left it, apart from a few stray pieces of Noah’s clothing that were strung over the chairs and on the floor. _Okay. I have an hour until he gets home._ Haydn started to clean. He knew that he didn’t have to, but it felt nice to be able to do something again. It didn’t take long for him to get lost in his work, making sure everything was in its place.

Then, the sound of keys turning in the lock. Haydn quickly finished what he was doing and stood right in front of the entrance. _This is weird isn’t it. I shouldn’t have done this. I should have just called him to come pick me up while I w-_ His thoughts were cut off by the sight of Noah, standing perfectly still in the doorway. 

“Am… Am I hallucinating?” Noah asked, not moving from his position.

“No,” Haydn said gently with a smile. “Surprise.” Noah took one step into the door, dropped his things, and practically leaped on top of Haydn. His hands were around his waist, his head buried in his neck.

“You have no idea how _fucking happy_ I am to see you.” he said, his voice heavy.

“Are you crying?” Haydn asked, doing his best to keep his composure.

“Maybe,” Noah answered, not moving his head from Haydn’s neck. They stood there for a full minute, neither daring to move away. 

“Tell me about your day,” Haydn said, finally bush Noah back so that they could make eye contact.

 “I don’t want to,” Noah said, putting a hand on either side of Haydn’s face.  “I just want to look at you.” He brought his face closer to his, their noses resting together. “I love you, _so much_.”

Haydn closed his eyes. “I love you, too.” He felt Noah’s lips press against his, first gently, then again a little harder. The next thing he knew Noah’s hands were sliding his shirt over his head, only briefly parting their lips. He quickly removed his own shirt and started guiding Haydn to the bedroom, their lips still locked together.

“You have no idea how long I’ve waited for this, _for you._ ” Noah whispered between breaths. They were getting closer and closer to the bedroom, Noah unbuttoning his pants. _Are we really about to do this?_

They were.

_And they did._

His heart was racing and his breath was heavy. It still hurt to breathe, but he couldn’t care less. Haydn had never had sex with another man before. Sure, he may have had one sexual encounters in the bathroom of a club a few years back, but it was nothing like this. Being with Noah was real, it meant something. Feeling Noah’s body against his own, every inch of their skin brushing together, was enough to make Haydn forget about his pain, about everything that he had been through the past two months, and just _live._

For the first time ever, he felt like he was supposed to be with someone. _He was supposed to be with Noah._

* * *

 Noah had had plenty of sexual encounters. The first few months of him coming to the station he had been with a different guy every night. He’d had his fair share of boyfriends, but with no real emotional connection. The sex was good enough to stay together for a while, but when that stopped being enough he would ditch whoever it was and move onto the next person. There was never any emotion behind it, everything was purely based on physical attraction. Noah couldn’t have cared less what the person was like, as long as they could pleasure him in bed. Everything was different with Haydn. They had a steady, caring, emotional relationship _and_ good sex. Their first time had been everything that Noah could have hoped for. So had been the time after that, and the time after that. By the time Haydn had completely recovered it was almost a nightly occurrence, not that they meant for it to be. Every night was a different scenario, and yet they all ended up the same way: with Haydn on top of him in bed.

“How was work?” Haydn called from the kitchen as Noah set his stuff down. After two month’s worth of recovery, he still hadn’t been cleared to go back.

“Same as usual,” Noah said, joining him in the kitchen. He grabbed Haydn from behind, locking his hands around his waist and rested his chin on his shoulder. “What are you making?”

“It’s a surprise!” Haydn said, turning around in his arms so that they were facing each other. “I’m trying something new.” 

“I’m sure whatever it is, it will be amazing.” Noah placed a kiss on Haydn’s forehead. “I have a surprise for you too.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.” Noah reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper and offered it to Haydn.

“What is it?” he asked, hesitant to take it. 

“Why don’t you open it and find out?” Noah said, shoving the paper into his hand. Haydn slowly unfolded it and read the content allowed.

“Mr. Fleury, we are pleased to inform you that you’ve been cleared for duty. You may return to regular shifts a-” he stopped reading. “Is this real?”

“Why would I fake something like that?” Noah said with a grin. “You ready to go back to work?” Haydn’s face answered the question. His smile was ear to ear, and it looked like he was on the verge of tears. He pulled Noah into a tight embrace, staying there for a full minute.

“You have no idea how happy I am,” he said, his face buried in Noah’s shoulder. “Thank you.”

“Faulk’s the one you should be thanking. He called your PT guy at least twice a day until he finally cleared you.” Haydn let go and took a step back, wiping his eyes.

“Seriously? I thought Faulker hated me.”

“Everyone thinks that Faulker hates them. He’s just that kind of person. I’m pretty sure he really likes you. I mean, he doesn’t have a reason not to.”

“Remind me to thank him,” Haydn said, folding the note and laying it on the countertop. He turned back to what he was cooking and began to work on it again.

“I don’t think you need to. He kinda owes you his life,” Noah said, jumping onto the counter beside Haydn.

“What?” Haydn asked, scowling. “No he doesn’t.”

“You pushed him out of the way of that car. It would have hit him straight on if you hadn’t,” Noah said, matter-of-factly. “He was going around the station telling everyone that you saved his life.” Haydn’s face started to turn red.

“I don’t think that’s true,” he said quietly.

“Don’t sell yourself short,” Noah responded. Haydn paused, trying to think of what else to say. 

“I… I don’t want to talk about this anymore,” he said quickly. “Anyways. Dinner’s done.” Noah shrugged. As much as he wanted to talk about the accident, he knew that now wasn’t the time. _Later then._  

“Lets eat.”

* * *

Haydn walked into the station and clocked in, as usual. He barely got into the doorway before he was met with a wall of applause. It seemed like everyone he knew was there, all on their feet furiously clapping in his direction. Haydn looked around, confused. “Did I miss something?” He leaned over to Noah and asked.

“What are you talking about?” Noah asked, yelling over the noise. 

“Why are we clapping?”

“What do you mean? We’re clapping for you,” he answered, patting him on the shoulder. “You know, because you saved someone’s life and were out for three months?” Haydn’s face turned a shade of bright pink.

“Oh,” he said quietly. With a small smile he made his way to the common room, each person he passed giving him a pat on the back or a hand on his shoulder as he did. He sighed as he sat down on the couch.

“What?” Noah asked, sitting down beside him.

“I was hoping no one would say anything.”

“Stop being so humble,” Noah said grabbing his hand. Haydn tried to yank it away, but Noah’s grip was pretty strong. “You risked your life to save someone else, that’s fucking crazy. You should be proud and let everyone else be proud too.” Noah’s thumb grazed Haydn’s knuckles. His smile slowly took the form of his signature smirk. “How can you possible be hot _and_ selfless _and_ humble? It’s not fair. There’s no way I can top that.”

“You know you’re at work, right?” Cam said as he passed the couch. “Maybe keep it in your pants.” Haydn’s eyebrows shot up as he snatched his hand from Noah’s grip.

“What are you talking about?” He asked with a laugh; He was trying to play it cool, but on the inside, he was freaking out. _WHY WOULD HE SAY THAT OUT LOUD?_

“Ugh. Are you too really going to do it _right here_?” Brett called from the other side of the room. “I don’t want to be here for that.”

“Guys, chill. Haydn looks like he’s about to pass out,” Scott said from the kitchen. “Stop harassing him, at least for a few minutes.”

“Does everyone know?” Haydn practically whispered in Noah’s direction.

“Yeah. It wasn’t my fault though, Pesce can’t keep his mouth shut.” Noah glared at Brett from across the room. “He called me out in front of _everyone_. It was all he talked about for a straight week.”

“And… they’re _okay_ with it?” Haydn asked nervously. The reason that he didn’t want to tell anyone to begin with was that he thought that they would be at risk of being fired.

“Yeah, totally!” Noah said with a smile. “They’re all super happy for us.” He grabbed Haydn’s hand again.

“Never thought we’d have two couples at the station,” Victor said, taking a seat across from them.

“Two?” Haydn asked. “What are you talking about?”

“You guys, and Sebastian and Teuvo,” he said, pointing to the opposite side of the common room. As he did, all of the color drained from Sebastian’s face.

“You… you know about us?” Teuvo asked, in shock. 

“Were you trying to hide it?” Elias asked.

“Kinda,” he answered, shrugging. 

“You guys are _way_ worse than they are,” Justin said, joining the group. “At least they aren’t tossing PDA around like it was spare change.” He motioned to Noah and Haydn’s hand, which were still intertwined.

“Shut up, Faulker.” Noah said, tossing one of the pillows from the couch his direction. Justin caught it and tossed it back, missing the couch completely.

 

_Bweeeeeeeee_

_“Gas fire, 11-82, code two. EMT three. HLS to truck one”_

 

The alarm interrupted their conversation. Noah turned to Haydn with a smile. 

“Ready to go?” He asked pushing himself off of the couch, Haydn’s hand still in his.

“ _You have no idea_." 

* * *

 

**EPILOGUE**

 

Noah paced nervously from one end of the station to the other. “Dude, will you chill? Everything’s going to be fine,” Trevor said, putting a hand on his shoulder. 

“What if he hates it? What if he says no? Or even worse: what if he doesn’t say anything?” Noah was freaking out. After five years of being together he was finally asking Haydn to marry him. It had been a long time coming, yet he was so nervous he could barely function. 

“He’ll love it. Trust me,” Brett said. “And if he doesn’t, he’s too nice to say anything.” Noah rolled his eyes.

“Not helping Pesce.”

“Shhh, I see him coming!” Victor yelled from the door. He clicked the lights off and everyone got into position. Noah had arranged the whole thing. Everyone that Haydn was close to, 20 men who all happened to work together, were lined up from the entrance of the station to the garage, each wearing a tuxedo and holding a single red rose. There were candles providing a dim, relaxing light for the event covering almost every surface in the station. At the end of the line, standing in the garage, was Noah holding one more rose and a small rectangular box. Jeff had called Haydn in to cover a ‘last-minute’ shift change, providing the perfect cover. Noah did his best to compose himself as he heard the station door open. He shoved the box into his pocket and took a few deep breaths. _Here we go._

“What is going on?” He heard Haydn laugh the door closed behind him. One by one he heard each of his friends say something to Haydn. ‘ _Congratulations, Dogwood!’_ and ‘ _You guys are perfect for each other.’_ Seemed to be common phrases.

“Guys, seriously. What the fuck?” Noah saw Haydn approaching with a handful of roses, looking extremely confused. Brock ushered him towards the garage entrance, where he handed him another rose. When Haydn finally made eye contact with Noah, his face lit up.

“Did you do this?” he asked, taking several steps closer to him. 

“Yeah,” Noah said with a smile, handing Haydn his final rose. “I have something to tell you.”

“Alright…” Haydn said skeptically. “Go for it.” Noah took a few more deep breaths before starting. _This is it. Only the most important thing you’ve ever done in your life. You’re entire future is riding on this. Don’t fuck it up. Don’t fuck it up. Don’t. Fuck. It. Up._

“Since the moment I met you, I knew that were were supposed to be together. I had no idea that you would ever be interested in me. When I found out you were, I knew that it was going to be something amazing. You mean everything to me, you always have. I can’t remember what my life was like without you in it, and I _never_ want to have to live without you. I love you more than anything, which is why I want to spend the rest of my life with you.” Noah pulled the box from his pocket, got down on one knee and opened it. Inside was a thick silver band with a small diagonal line of diamonds running through the middle. “Haydn Fleury, _will you marry me_?” Haydn dropped to his knees. There were tears running down his face, but that didn’t stop him from kissing Noah as hard as he could. Noah closed his eyes and placed his hands on Haydn’s cheeks. He could hear clapping and yelling from behind them and knew that their friends had all piled into the garage. This moment was the only thing that mattered, _this kiss_ was the only thing that mattered. It seemed to last a lifetime and when it ended all Noah could see was Haydn’s blue eyes. Now all he was waiting on was the answer, one simple phrase that would change his life. Haydn opened his mouth and began, his smile as wide as Noah had ever seen it. Then the words he had been waiting for.

“Of course.”

**Author's Note:**

> my quest to shove the nickname 'dogwood' into every fic continues. when will i be stopped?
> 
> thank you so much for reading, I really hoped you enjoyed it!!! my tumblr is @haydnflury and it's always open for fic requests/just to talk :)


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